Choking Strings
by thisoldporcelaincoffeeshop
Summary: Kurt stabbed the salad with a fork, happily lost in thought. He attempted to swallow, panic striking him when he felt that the food was lodged in his throat. Kurt would normally want to make a scene, but he couldn't.
1. Choking Victims

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone. This story is going to be my first very long, multi-chapter story, so please bear with me here. I really hope you enjoy it. This story begins during episode 2x6 (Never Been Kissed). This story is sort of AU, but I plan on following the plot lines slightly. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, though I really wish I did. There would be a whole lotta Klaine. (:**

* * *

"Watch it, homo." Karofsky said, shoving Kurt into a set of lockers, his spine scraping against the metal handles.

Kurt stood up against the lockers as everyone stared, showing glints of sympathy in their eyes, and then quickly rushing out the door.

He leaned against the locker, tilted his head back and breathed in deeply to try to ease away the pain. He was used to Karafsky doing this on an hourly basis, but the compilation of bruises was starting to become a bother. Kurt quickly put back on his superior, sassy expression and strutted into the Spanish room to meet with the team of bone-headed boys Mr. Shuester forced him to work with.

No one seemed to acknowledge him as he plopped down on the opposite side of the room, sorting through various poster boards with costume ideas for their performance. Kurt knew they were fabulous, but expected the other boys to not embrace the daring fashion choices Kurt was willing to get down on his hands and knees and beg for them to wear it. Since he couldn't be with the girls, he was going to try his best to whip them in shape.

Kurt silently walked to the front of the room and prepared his presentation. He cleared his throat loudly to elicit some sort of an acknowledgement to his presence, but received none.

"Hello?" Kurt called loudly, turning the heads of Finn and Puckerman.

"What the hell is that thing on your head?" Puckerman snapped, pointing to a feathery cap that Kurt was wearing on his presentation boards.

"It's a feather cap and it's vital for our performance." Kurt sassed.

"There is no way in hell I would ever be seen in that…thing." Puck contented.

Kurt ignored Puck's remark and continued on with his proposal, ignoring the constant eye-rolling and sighs of annoyance.

"Dude, why don't you go make yourself useful and slip some rat poison into them old folks jell-o, or visit the Garglers or something." Puck remarked, tossing a football towards Finn who clumsily caught it. Kurt wondered how Finn even made the football team, he was such a klutz. Kurt pushed the thought away and quickly thought of a remark to throw back at Puck.

"The Warblers. And fine." Kurt muttered. He was disappointed in how easily gave up, but his day had been rough and it would be interesting to check out the competition. Especially since it was a school filled with handsome, talented blazer-clad boys.

Finn side-eyed Puck as Kurt stormed out of the room. "Dude, what the hell! I'm never going to hear the end of this when I get home!" Finn scolded, slapping Puck upside the head.

* * *

As Kurt entered Dalton Academy, he was taken aback by the beauty and the energy the school elicited. Everyone was throwing positive comments towards each other, high-fiving and even hand-holding. The school was extravagant, Kurt thought. The large staircase was made out of pure marble, and the railings out of iron. He couldn't imagine how much money went into building this school. It was absolutely gorgeous. Kurt tried his hardest to blend in, despite wearing something obviously different from the rest of the students.

Kurt followed a group of boys who were highly engaged in a conversation about Katy Perry. This intrigued Kurt, for if a group of boys were seen doing that at McKinley, they would end up like Kurt. The group of boys walked out into a courtyard, filled with boys break dancing while others watched and ate very unhealthy snacks. Kurt frowned upon most of their food choices, before settling at a picnic table behind the group of friends he stalked earlier.

"Well, Neil Patrick Harris is my DREAM husband, you know that." He heard one of the boys behind him say. Kurt smiled at the comment, and a glimmer of hope burst through him. Maybe there was hope for Kurt, maybe there was other out gay kids in Ohio, not that Kurt expected to find love in this hick town anyways. It was a nice thought knowing he wasn't alone, hoping that the boy who said that did play for his team.

Kurt discreetly glanced behind him, trying to determine who said that. It was hard to tell, considering all the boys were facing the opposite direction. One head stuck out to him in particular. The hair was dark and obviously curly, but coated in a helmet of gel. Kurt's gaydar flashed a little, but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

Kurt stabbed the salad he was eating with a fork, happily lost in thought. Kurt attempted to swallow, panic striking him when he felt that the food was stuck in his throat. Kurt would normally want to make a scene, but he couldn't. If he did, everyone would surely know he was spying. So Kurt did the only sensible thing he thought of at the moment. He calmly stood up, walked over towards the group of boys behind him, and instinctively tapped the dark, curly haired boy's shoulder.

The boy flinched slightly and whipped around, fists clenched, ready to punch. But as hazel eyes met galaxy blue ones, all fear left them both momentarily, until Kurt's face grew extremely red and he signaled that he needed help.

"Oh-oh my." The boy stuttered, hesitant to touch Kurt. "I'll just go get help."

"No, dude! There's no time! Do the Heimlich!" An Asian boy yelled.

The boy took that remark and pressed his back firmly around Kurt, causing Kurt to shiver slightly at the touch. The boy wrapped his arms around Kurt's torso and pressed his fist on Kurt's sternum. The boy strongly pumped for what felt like the awkward-est, yet arousing couple of minutes of either of their lives. The crouton that was lodged in Kurt's throat flew across the courtyard, into a patch of grass where it was unnoticeable.

Kurt felt extremely weak and collapsed into the dark haired boys arms, which without even struggling, held Kurt up.

"Hey, shh. Your okay. Just breathe." The boy said, stroking the stray hair out of Kurt's face. "Thad, go get the nurse."

Kurt groggily opened his eyes, and gasped slightly at the sight of the strikingly handsome man that was holding him in his arms. "T-thank you." Kurt stuttered.

"No need for a thank you." The boy smirked.

"I-I need to sit." Kurt said hoarsely. He loved being held in the boy's arms, but it was becoming slightly uncomfortable while they were standing up.

The boy ushered him over to a bench, where he leaned Kurt back onto his chest. "Listen to my breathing." The boy demanded calmly.

Kurt did so, his breathing pattern was extremely staggered. Kurt leaned into his chest, slightly hissing from the pain of contact on his bruises.

"I- I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" The boy asked politely.

"-no, no. I just fell earlier, that's all." Kurt lied.

Kurt thought the boy seemed like he believed it, and continued to silently listen to his breathing.

"I'm Kurt. Kurt Hummel." Kurt said after a couple of minutes.

"Blaine Anderson." The curly haired boy replied.

_Blaine Anderson. _Kurt liked the sound of that.

"I hope you know that I would never do this if the circumstances were different. I'm not like a desperate person who let's anyone touch me or-"

"I know. I didn't think of you like that." Blaine answered as the nurse came running into the courtyard.

"WHO'S HURT?" The nurse screamed.

"Nurse Nina, it's okay. We have everything under control." Blaine answered.

The nurse looked over towards the two of them, and Kurt instinctively moved, in fear of her judging them.

But instead of the nurse flipping, she smiled, wide-toothed and cast a wink towards Blaine, who blushed furiously.

The nurse waved goodbye and thanked Blaine for saving him. Both Kurt and Blaine's cheeks were rosy red, and their heads were ducked.

Blaine cleared his throat uncomfortably. "So, Kurt. Since you clearly don't attend Dalton, what are you doing here?" Blaine asked humbly.

"P-please don't beat me up." Kurt pleaded, tears forming in his eyes.

"Hey, hush now. Why would I ever beat you up?" Blaine responded softly.

"I'm sort of spying. Well, I was supposed to be spying. I ended up being extremely intrigued in everything. Dalton's a very nice school. Way better than McKinley." Kurt replied.

"It is a very nice place, isn't it? And Kurt?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah?"

"I would never, ever beat you up. No one here would. Dalton has a zero tolerance bullying policy." Blaine affirmed.

A tear rolled down Kurt's cheek at those words. It was all so surreal to Kurt; it was everything he ever hoped for in a school.

"I take it your having trouble at school." Blaine said, cocking his head slightly.

"There's this Neanderthal at my school who has made it his mission to make my life a living hell, and nobody seems to notice." Kurt answered, turning his head away from Blaine and sobbing slightly.

"Well, Kurt. There are two options. I would love to tell you to up and enroll at Dalton, but I know tuitions steep at Dalton and it isn't an option for everyone. But, Kurt, you could refuse to be the victim."

"How do you propose I do that?"

"Confront him. Call him out. I was in similar situation to yours. I attended Westerville High School, and I was bullied. I even complained to the staff, but I could tell that nobody really cared. I ran, Kurt. You have the chance to stand up to your attacker, and I suggest you take advantage of that." Blaine confessed, choking up slightly at his words.

Kurt smiled in response. Blaine didn't technically admit he was out or anything and he might as well not be. But Blaine admitting this to Kurt made him feel less lonely, like someone was there for him. All Kurt knew was that Blaine struggled through the same thing Kurt was going through, and he actually seemed to care about him. At that moment, Kurt felt like he mattered.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading, this story is going to be around 10-15 chapters, and updates will be random. Reviews are lovely, if you have the time. May beautiful Klaineicorns bring you happy thoughts daily.**

**PS: (You're amazing, and you matter. If your struggling with feeling that, pm me and I hope I could help. Just remember, your beautiful and you MATTER.)**


	2. Hop Off The Plane

**Author's Note: This story takes place around 2x7-2x8. It contains some violence, and TRIGGER WARNING, it roughly mentions cutting. So if this triggers you, please don't read this chapter. Just PM me and I will fill you in with what happened throughout this chapter. **

**So this chapter made me extremely upset writing it. Some pretty bad things happen to some characters, so please don't hate me. It made me just as sad to write it. (Hint: No one dies, and no one is seriously _physically _injured throughout this chapter. **

**So thank you for (hopefully) starting to read my story! It means A LOT!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee.**

* * *

"Just admit you like him." Mercedes demanded as she and Kurt stared distastefully at the cafeteria food.

"Please, after the Rachel-Jessie scenario, no thank you. We're just friends. Nothing but Glee club ever comes up." Kurt replied half-heartedly, his mind being overtaken by the pain of recent bruises he received last period.

"We'd be happy for you Kurt. And the boy saved your life, he doesn't seem like a traitor to me." Mercedes retorted, her eyes gleaming with love as she saw the fresh batch of tater-tots being brought out.

Kurt side-eyed her judgmentally, tater-tots were high calorie, high cholesterol snacks that he wouldn't be caught dead eating. But he was used to Mercedes antics and her crazy love for tater-tots. He wouldn't judge her; you can't control what you like. He of all people knows that.

"So are we on for Friday?" Mercedes asked with a mouth full of tater-tots.

"I can't. Blaine got us tickets for a new play." Kurt disclosed.

"By us you mean all three of us_, right_?" Mercedes said sharply.

"…I think he could only score two." Kurt said as Karofsky knocked his tray over, salad clattering all over the floor.

A few heads turned at the noise, but mostly everyone continued on with their conversations.

"You okay?" Mercedes comforted.

"Yeah, it's fine. I can always get more." Kurt sighed, kneeling down to pick his tray back up. As Kurt reached out to grab the fallen utensils, his sleeve rolled up, revealing deep bruises and scars.

"Kurt! What happened?" Mercedes screeched, grabbing hold of Kurt's wrist before he had a chance to turn away.

"N-nothing. I have to go." Kurt insisted, pulling out of Mercedes' grasp and practically dashing out of the cafeteria.

Kurt quickly ran into the boys bathroom, the only place he knew he was safe from Mercedes. When she wanted to find something out, she would stop at nothing to. As Kurt curled up into the corner of the large bathroom stall, his phone buzzed.

_Courage_

_-Blaine_

With this, Kurt's world froze, as did every time Blaine did something simple like this. His heart skipped a beat, and he fell harder and harder in love with the boy he only met a couple of weeks ago.

Kurt carefully slid his phone back into his backpack and bravely strutted out of the boys bathroom. He didn't care what anyone thought about him at that moment, he had Blaine, who meant so much to Kurt that it scared him.

Kurt couldn't help but let the adoring smile and blush spread over his face when Blaine texted him during glee club rehearsal that afternoon. Even though it was a repeat of Blaine's previous text, it made him feel better each time. Kurt's quiet chuckle elicited some attention from the boys sitting next to him, which made Kurt instantly quiet down and continue watching the girls perform a surprisingly amazing performance of Living on a Prayer. It may not have caught the attention of Kurt as much as it did the other boys, considering the girls were clad in tight leather clothing and wind whipping through their hair. He enjoyed the performance, but couldn't keep his mind off of Blaine. He finally had someone who made him feel important.

As the performance finally came to a close, Kurt scurried out of the room as quickly as he could. He partially did it to avoid any awkward conversations or deeply personal questions from Mercedes, but mostly so he could visit Blaine at Lima Bean.

Their quickly progressing friendship seemed to confuse everyone, but Blaine really understood him. Ever since he had saved Kurt's life and held him in his arms, they immediately became the best of friends. Kurt didn't care if it confused his fellow glee club peers at McKinley, they barely noticed his presence anyways.

As Kurt attempted to enter his Navigator, a strong, clammy hand clenched around his shoulder, whipping his body around. Kurt's breath hitched as he saw who it was, Karofsky. A fist suddenly came into contact with his stomach, knocking the wind out of Kurt. He felt like he was going to heave over and pass out, just as another punch struck him across the face, forcing Kurt to slam into his Navigator window and fall into a heap in front of Karofsky.

"That's what you get for being a fag." Karosfky shouted, kicking Kurt in the side and storming away.

Kurt sobbed loudly, his tears and blood pooling together on the cold, dirty parking lot pavement beneath him. He felt like he was going to die there, being worthless and making nothing out of his life. No one was going to find him, no one cared enough to. Even if some student saw him lying there, bleeding extensively, they wouldn't even stop to lend a hand. Kurt was too different, to unique for his own good. Kurt began to feel dizzy, as he noticed the large amount of blood staining his shirt and on the pavement beneath him. His sight began to blur, falling into a deep sleep.

What felt like a huge, confusing blur of dystopia suddenly dissipated as Kurt was awoken by the feint sound of ambulances and the loud, heart breaking screams and sobs of someone familiar shouting his name.

"Kurt! Kurt! Please, wake up. It's Blaine." The voice shouted.

Kurt slowly blinked his eyes open, his vision still extremely blurry, but making out the silhouette of a boy in a navy blue blazer.

"B-Blaine. I'm sorry I missed our coffee outing. I must of…I must of fallen asleep." Kurt replied, his body feeling oddly numb. He didn't think waking up normally felt like this.

He could hear Blaine let out a happy sob, and could see his beautiful hazel/brown eyes squint, a sure sign that he was smiling.

"Oh Kurt. Just relax, its okay. Soon you're going to be in a nice, warm room where you can properly take a nap. I'll just take a rain check on that coffee date." Blaine smiled, slowly stroking Kurt's forearm that was hidden under a wool blanket.

"Oh." Kurt smiled at the word _date_. "And can you tell F-Finn to turn down his video game? I can hear the sirens all the way from over here." Kurt asked groggily.

"Of course." Blaine chuckled; glad Kurt was feeling no pain. Blaine knew what it felt like to be lying on the cold cement floor, body aching and drenched in blood, feeling like the world was collapsing in on him. He was extremely thankful that Kurt was feeling none of that, was too out of it and numb from the cold that he felt nothing. But what Blaine dreaded was when Kurt was whisked away to the hospital and given the news that he was just gay bashed. Blaine remembered that that the physical pain hurt extremely bad, but the fact that he had been bullied for being himself hurt more than any broken bones or bruises.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading, it means a lot. Like a lot a lot. Readers and comments are literally the hugest self-confidence booster ever, to me. So if you have the time, please comment/review and/ or critique! I am also open to suggestions for future chapters.**

**PS: ****It get's better. Please don't let anyone bring you down. Just remember, it doesn't matter if they are throwing sticks and stones at you, or calling you the meanest of names, you will always have someone out there who cares for you. **


	3. As Long As You're There

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the update delays! I've been very busy with school and such, but I plan on updating every couple of days (hopefully).**

**I really hope you have been liking my story (: And thank you for reading!**

**This story has scenes from 2x6, but the time frame is around episode 2x8-2x9**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.**

* * *

Kurt awoke to the silent, soothing sound of birds chirping, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of sun gleaming down on him through the windows. He slowly grasped reality, as his dull headache began to throb painfully and his ribcage felt like a thousand knives had been jabbed into them.

"Hello?" Kurt said weakly, coughing from the pain breathing brought on.

"It's me, Kurt. It's Blaine." Blaine smiled, holding onto Kurt's hand.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kurt demanded, unpleased with the way he looked at the moment.

"I'm not going to judge you, Kurt. You're beautiful all the time." Blaine said loudly without thinking. "I mean…I'm here for support, Kurt. You were bullied and I want you to be around someone who has gone through this."

"I'm fine, Blaine. Can you just leave?" Kurt hissed. He was done, done with everything. Nobody really cared for him, he didn't matter. Nobody should waste their time on Kurt. He was broken, a mess. It was better for Blaine if he left Kurt alone, or so Kurt thought.

"Why?" Blaine frowned.

"Can you just leave? I'll be fine. I just…want to be alone in my misery, thanks." Kurt implored.

"Alright, but if you need anything, call." Blaine smiled weakly and reaching down to give Kurt's hand a reassuring squeeze, but Kurt pulled away quickly. Blaine was completely dumbfounded. Why was Kurt ignoring him? Was Blaine being to rude, or was it what he said? These thoughts were eating away at Blaine's mind every second of the day.

* * *

Kurt walked slowly down the hallway, wearing a long sweater and the loosest pants he could find, which were still mildly skinny. He wore the outfit amazingly well, for Kurt Hummel always dressed for the best, no matter the circumstances. He strutted down the hallway, receiving wandering eyes and judgmental glares. He pushed them aside and gracefully pulled his books out of his locker.

The previous week had been hectic for Kurt. He was slowly recovering from the assault, Carol and his father had announced that they were soon to be married, Blaine had been constantly texting Kurt (texts that were ignored), and Kurt had taken a lot of his time coming to the decision that he wasn't going to let anyone into his emotional wreckage. He was going to be closed off, putting on his best diva face and strutting down the halls like he was fine. Even though, he wasn't. Kurt struggled with the fact that he had been assaulted for being who he is, and Karofsky only getting a mere slap on the wrist for it. He was tired of being pushed around like he was inferior to others, he was tired of his only parent forgetting his beloved mother, and he was tired of his step-brother not giving a shit about him and tired of being _alive._ Kurt Hummel was going to keep his problems to himself, and if that meant losing the boy he fell madly in love with, then so be it, Kurt thought.

Kurt slowly gazed at the wedding cake decoration that his mother and father had placed on their cake; it was still in mint-condition. As soon as Kurt had found the old thing at the young age of 5, he had used it to rehearse his dream weddings over and over. The little ornament meant much more to him than almost any of his possessions. Suddenly, Kurt felt warm, smelly breath breathing down his neck. He felt the presence of a large, sweaty man beside him. Kurt instantly tensed up, and froze. _Karofsky_.

"Come with me now. Walk behind me so it doesn't look like we are talking." Karofsky said quietly, looking off towards another girl's locker, pretending to check her out in the process.

"Why?" Kurt said nervously.

"Just do it!" Karofsky said, shoving Kurt into the locker door.

Kurt quickly brushed himself off, and did as Karofsky told him. He discreetly followed Karofsky into the boy's locker room, fear pulsing through his every vein, trembling and his mind making up situation after situation about what Karofsky was going to do to him. Nothing prepared Kurt for what Karofsky had in store, as the large, husky boy pulled Kurt in for a strange, awkward kiss. Karofsky pulled away, looking furious and angsty. Kurt put his hand to his lip. _That is where Karofsky, the extremely homophobic football player kissed me. _Kurt was trembling as Karofsky leant in for another kiss, being pushed away weakly by Kurt.

Karofsky banged his fists against the locker room, silent tears flooding his eyes.

_So this is why. He's closeted. David Karofsky is gay._ Kurt was extremely shocked, collapsing on to the sweaty, cold floor of the boy's locker room.

"If you tell anyone, Hummel. I'll kill you." Karofsky screamed, running quickly out of the locker room.

At that moment, Kurt had never felt more vulnerable. Karofsky had taken away something Kurt always dreamed a man he was in love with would take: his first true kiss. Kurt had been broken before, but this caused him to come crumbling to pieces.

Kurt fumbled with his phone in his pocket, messily punching in Blaine's number from memory.

"Kurt! I've been waiting to hear from you all week? How're you feeling?" Blaine said enthusiastically.

Kurt began to sob violently through the phone, spilling exactly what happened over the phone to Blaine. Within twenty minutes, Blaine was over to McKinley, trying to place the pieces of Kurt Hummel back together.

"-and, and I'm just so sorry I was so rude to you when you came to make sure I was feeling better. I thought it was better, for you, if you just didn't know me. Can't you see what a wreck I am?" Kurt sobbed.

"Shh, Kurt. I don't care that you're unstable. I'm here to help you, Kurt. No matter the cost." Blaine reassured, wrapping his arms around Kurt as he sobbed painfully into Blaine's chest. How about I confront him? I can talk to him; maybe help him along the process of coming out a little. We both know how tough coming to terms with sexuality is, everyone handles it differently. As we know, Karofsky uses anger. But we should help."

"Blaine, he will rip us to shreds." Kurt contended.

"We can't just let him suffer through coming out by himself, we both know how hard that is. We just need to reassure him that he isn't alone." Blaine countered.

"Oh-Okay." Kurt responded weakly, tears slowly coming to a stop.

* * *

The next day at school, Kurt was constantly on watch. He feared that Karofsky was luring around the corner, that he would be waiting by his locker, that they would run into each other in the bathroom, that he'd find Kurt in the hallway and mindlessly beat the shit out of him. Kurt felt that he wasn't safe at McKinley High anymore.

But what Kurt was dreading the most was his lunch period. Kurt and Blaine had formed a plan to confront Karofsky that day at lunch. Kurt was worried that Karofsky wouldcompletely snap, and kill him for telling Blaine, just like he said he would. Today could be the last day he lived.

As Kurt walked into English class and sat next to Mercedes, he received sympathetic stares from Rachel and Tina. This was completely new to him, for they never really noticed him unless they needed fashion or boy advice. Kurt turned towards Brittany and Santana, who were also staring at him, practically teary-eyed.

"Mercedes, what's going on?" Kurt whispered.

"K-Kurt, we are so sorry." Mercedes whispered back and Kurt could feel wet tears strolling down her cheek.

"-what?" Kurt said, he was completely dumbfounded.

"Mr. Hummel, Ms. Jones, would you like to share with the class what is so emotionally heart-breaking that you are disrupting my class over?" Mr. Jamerson lectured.

Mercedes quickly began to wipe away her tears and sniffled.

"No, I'm sorry." Kurt responded. He usually would have some good excuse to why he and Mercedes were constantly chatting during his lessons, but his mind was filled with worst case scenarios. Had they too found out about Karofsky? He was surely going to be killed. Did they know something I didn't?

"Detention, tomorrow after school." Mr. Jamerson demanded.

_Great._

* * *

Kurt hesitated to walk into the courtyard where he knew Blaine was anxiously awaiting his arrival. His bruised ribs still painfully throbbed from the assault, and Kurt's constant uncomfortable clutching of himself to feel less lonely wasn't helping. Kurt hugged himself to attempt to stop himself from trembling, but nothing seemed to help.

"Hey! Kurt! Over here!" Blaine, ecstatic as always shouted, jumping up and down, waving.

Kurt slowly made his way over, dodging a few spitballs aimed his way. Blaine frowned as he saw what the other peers were doing, but Kurt felt nothing. The kids had always done immature pranks like this to him; it became part of his daily schedule.

"You should really say something to them; it's so immature and useless. You don't deserve that, you've been through so much already." Blaine frowned, patting Kurt on the shoulder, eliciting a small flinch from the taller boy. "I'm sorry; you're probably still aching from…"

"-I'm fine." Kurt cut in, focusing his stare down at the floor.

"We don't have to do this, Kurt. I just thought it would help him, and help you by being able to conquer your bully. You know, Kurt, I never had the chance and I regret it day after day. I think it would be really cool if you took advantage of this. And besides, I'm here to protect you."

Those words hit home for Kurt. He had to conquer his bullies. He couldn't keep living in fear like this. Besides, he had Blaine. Blaine was strong and muscular, from what Kurt has seen, (the blazer is sort of a cock block) and cares about Kurt. He was going to be fine.

Kurt smiled at Blaine, the first smile he cast in weeks. Silently, Kurt and Blaine spotted Karofsky and discreetly followed him until they were in a seemingly unpopulated area on the concrete stairs on the outside of the lunchroom.

"Hey." Kurt called out.

Karofsky whipped around, fear flashing through his eyes for a second before turning to ice. "Who's this, your boyfriend?"

"We're here to talk to you about what you did." Blaine chimed in.

"And what's that?" Karofsky retorted.

"You kissed me." Kurt exclaimed.

Karofsky turned around and headed down the stairs.

"We know this is a hard thing to come to terms with, but you should know that you're not alone." Blaine avowed.

Karofsky whipped back around, running hastily towards Blaine. He pinned Blaine up against the wall, fists clenched, ready to attack.

Blaine calmly put his hands up in defense, staring disdainfully at Karofsky's fists. Sadness seemed to overcome Blaine at that moment, Kurt realized. Adrenaline began to pump through him as he daringly shoved Karofsky off the boy he loved so dearly.

"You need to stop this!" Kurt implored.

Tears started to form in the back of Karofsky's eyes as he quickly dashed away. Kurt breathlessly looked back at Blaine who was calmly leaning back against the stair's fencing.

"Well he's not coming out anytime soon." Blaine joked.

Kurt sighed and sadly fell into a heap on the stairs. That didn't turn out the way he expected it to at all.

"Why are you so upset?" Blaine said softly, sitting himself down next to Kurt.

"Before this, I had never kissed anyone. Well, one that counted anyway." Kurt answered, his cheeks flushing from embarrassment.

Wordlessly, Blaine stood up and motioned for Kurt to do the same.

"Where are we going?" Kurt sniffled.

"Come on, I'll take you out to lunch." Blaine smiled, offering a hand for help getting up, which Kurt happily accepted. Maybe this day wasn't that bad after all.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading! **

**And if your struggling with bullies on a daily basis, please, inform someone. Whether it's a parent, teacher, staff or a loved one, don't keep it to yourself. Dealing with bullies on your own makes the experience much worse, rather than telling someone and knowing they are there to help you. Don't let yourself be pushed around, because you matter.**


	4. Snakes and Butterflies

**Author's Note: I'm sorry for the super late update. I have been pretty busy with homework and stuff. I am this weekend too, but I plan on posting the next one tonight or tomorrow anyway.**

**So, this one is a little short and a little plotless, but it is an introduction for the next chapter. It's going to be pretty big, so just bear with me. I hope you'll like it.**

**Takes place around the episode Furt. AU.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Glee.**

* * *

Kurt skittishly walked down the hallway to algebra, flinching at every slam of a locker door and every shadow beside him. Kurt even curled into a ball on the floor when Mercedes peeped her head beside his locker door that morning. She couldn't stop expressing how sorry she was for scaring him, even though Kurt forgave her countless times. How could he be mad at her? It wasn't her fault. Though, Kurt couldn't stare anyone in the eye after the incident. No, he wasn't mad, he was embarrassed. Embarrassed he was weak, defenseless and there was nothing he could do from the shark known as Karofsky from pounding on him any moment he pleased. McKinley felt like a death sentence, he wasn't safe.

"Kurt! Over here!" Mercedes smiled, her flashy outfit dazzling from the sunlight reflecting off of it. _Oh, what an atrocious outfit. It's so sparkly and childlike. At least it's better than the Technicolor zebra sweatshirt she loved. Hey, plus she chose a window seat. I could use some air._

Kurt was criticizing Mercedes' outfit so crucially that he forgot all about Karofsky or the pain in the pit o his stomach due to anxiety and fear, momentarily that is, until the latter walked right into the room.

The nervous, butterflies in Kurt's stomach immediately felt like they turned into wriggling snakes, biting at his stomach and destroying him from inside out. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Kurt, are you okay? Your face is ghostly white and you look so drained." Tina asked from across the row.

_"No, I'm afraid I'm going to be slaughtered right at this very minute by my tormentor, and you should know this if you actually cared about me, which none of you seem to."_ Kurt wanted to say, but replied with a simple, yet convincing enough "I'm fine, thanks."

Kurt completely zoned out during this class, his mind flooding with questions like "_Why didn't the school board just expel him? Or do anything about it for that matter?" _to constantly bringing himself down with comments such as _"Get over yourself, Kurt. People are starving in Africa and your freaking out because you think a bully will slaughter you in front of everyone. Yeah, so thoughtful of you Kurt."_ He was being eaten away by his conscious.

* * *

"Blaine?" Kurt said softly into the phone.

"Hello." Blaine said enthusiastically.

"I can't stay here anymore. It's not safe." Kurt said, his voice shaky.

Kurt could practically hear Blaine's heart drop ten floors at that moment, which made Kurt feel even worse. Blaine kept muttering words of encouragement and saying he was on his way.

"No, Blaine. Stop, calm down." Kurt answered, his voice echoing around the bathroom. "I have an idea." Kurt said, returning to a whisper.

* * *

"Dad it's not that I'm being bullied or anything, don't worry about that, I just-" Kurt bluntly lied, as his phone vibrated. He subtly looked down at the message.

_Courage_

_ -Blaine_

Kurt smiled at the text, feeling slightly more confident in his request after that when a voice boomed from nearby.

"Kurt. You know that isn't true. Tell Burt the truth or I will myself." Finn said, appearing in the doorway to the living room.

Burt huffed, turning to glare towards his son. _What was going on here?_ He thought.

"No! I just, I want to enroll in Dalton, that's all. It can…it can challenge my intelligence and singing ability." Kurt exclaimed, hoping that his dad would believe him over Finn. His father really didn't need any more stress; he did just have a double bi-pass. Announcing that his only son was being bullied to the point of wanting to transfer schools could cause a repeat of the previous event.

"That's bull." Finn contented, crossing his arms.

"Finn, why do you care! Stay out of this!" Kurt snapped, shooting out of his seat on the couch. He had enough of Finn, _he never cared before, so why is he suddenly now?_

"I care because I realized I've been a sucky brother. I haven't done anything to stop this from happening. Sure, I don't know how badly he hurts you or anything…but I don't want you to die Kurt. You have to tell him." Finn proclaimed, looking empathetic towards Kurt.

"Alright. I've had enough of this." Burt announced, turning towards his teary-eyed son. "Kurt, tell me the real reason why you want to transfer to Dalton."

"I…well you know how I was assaulted by that boy a couple of weeks ago? Remember how I said that even though I was hospitalized, most of the injury was from me tripping earlier that day? That he just caught me while I was down?" Kurt conceded.

"Yeah? That boy is a terrible one. Should have been expelled." Burt snorted.

"Well, no. He did it all. He slammed me up against that car and beat me unconscious. It wasn't the first assault; he and others constantly bully me. I learn to live with it, but something happened recently and…and…he threatened to kill me." Kurt revealed.

"What?" Burt and Finn both implored in unison.

"You are getting out of that school. I'm sorry Kurt, I'm sorry. I should have known. You had been off lately, and I just let it fly right past me. I failed Kurt, I failed as a dad. I'm so, so sorry." Burt bellowed.

Kurt was shocked, his father was literally sobbing in front of him. The last time he saw his father shed a tear was during the whole fiasco of his mother dying. This ripped Kurt's heart to shreds.

"..Dad, it's…it's okay. It's my fault, I should have told you. There was no way you could have known. Just please, let me transfer to Dalton. I have a lot of money saved up, enough for the first semester. I can even…I can even sell some clothes to pay. Just-"

"Kurt, you're not paying a penny. You are going to go to that school, and I'm going to pay for it because that's what a father does." Burt sniffled, pulling Kurt into a hug.

"Thank you, Dad. I love you." Kurt cried.

"I love you too, buddy."

Kurt turned his head slightly to the door frame where Finn was once standing. However, Finn had disappeared.

* * *

"I'm surprised; I didn't think you'd go through with it just because you couldn't strut around in your latest clothes straight out of Vogue." Blaine chuckled after Kurt called squealing that he was transferring.

"Well, I will find a way to express my individuality another way. Besides, there is always the weekend and other events where I will get to wear my latest trends. I'm already plotting weekend outfits as we speak." Kurt laughed.

"So, will you be boarding?"

"I assume so. Dalton's too far to keep driving back and forth. Are there any available rooms?"

"Yeah, there is one right down the hall with my friend Jeff. He's a really good guy, but he's a handful. A real riot." Blaine chuckled.

"Well, I'll see for myself." Kurt happily replied. "And Blaine?"

"Yeah?" Blaine answered.

"Thank you. Thank you for saving my life, all the time. You honestly have no idea how many times you have saved my life in the few months I have known you."

"Kurt, I don't need to be thanked. You did it yourself, well aside from when you were choking. But anyone in their right mind would have helped you. All the other times it was you, you prospered through the hardships and I admire that about you. You are the most courageous person I have ever had the honor of knowing." Blaine said earnestly.

"Trust me, you have played a major role in my courageousness. Without you I would be a mess, so thank you, Blaine Anderson. I don't know what I would do without you."

* * *

**AN: Yeah, a pretty sappy ending. But I love Klaine and they can be sappy all they want. **

**Thank you for reading.**

**So another cheesy little quote that hopefully will make your day a teeny bit better,  
**

**"When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sand paper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless." ~Chris Colfer**


	5. Choking the Souls

**Author's Note: Hi, so I'm so sorry I posted this chapter really late again. I've just been really caught up in things and haven't had the drive to write. **

**Also, thank you to the super amazing, perfect, wonderful, beautiful anon who commented on my story. It made me so happy and want to continue writing. I was going to scrap this story, but your comment changed my mind.**

**And thank you so much to all my other reviewers as well. It means so much that you all take your time to let alone read my story, and to comment on it too makes my day all the time. You people really are too lovely and amazing.**

**So, there is a slight trigger warning in this story, so if that really makes you uncomfortable you can PM and I will send you a copy of the story without the hint of it. **

**Enjoy(:**

* * *

"Okay, sweaters on that side, cardigans on the other. Do you think you can handle that, Finn?" Kurt lectured, running around the room organizing his things.

"Is he always this high-strung?" Jeff whispered into Blaine's ear.

"No, but when it comes to proper organization, Kurt Hummel settles for nothing less than perfect." Blaine smiled, his eyes twinkling slightly as he watched Kurt fly across the room, picking up stray clothes.

"You so like him." Jeff nudged Blaine.

"As a friend, of course. Nothing more. We are just two people who look out for each other." Blaine answered seriously, trying to keep the blush from spreading across his cheeks.

"Yeah, _sure_. And Bert and Ernie are totally just roommates…"

"They are! Anyways, they're puppets. They don't have sexualities." Blaine laughed.

"Whatever you say." Jeff answered, rolling his eyes and sitting up from the bed. "Well I'm going to go get some coffee with Nick. Want anything, lover boy?"

"_Oh my god_, Jeff we are just friends, how many times-"

"I'll just get you an espresso." Jeff cut Blaine off, and winked.

_Why would he think I like Kurt more than friends? Does he know something I don't? Does Kurt like me? No, that can't be. He's been through so much, he wouldn't want to be in a relationship. But what if he does like me and I ignore it, then he'll think I hate him and we won't be friends and-_

"Hello, earth to Blaine!" Kurt hollered, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Yes?" Blaine answered nonchalantly.

"Okay, so my dad and Finn are leaving, so I'm going to go escort them out. Would you care to accompany me?" Kurt asked, motioning a hand towards the door.

"Of course." Blaine smiled.

* * *

"Don't forget, your first Warbler meeting is today after school. And don't be late, please. Wes will throw a hissy fit. He's very, uh…uptight." Blaine smiled as Kurt's family drove away.

"Kurt Hummel is never, _ever_ late for anything. Unless I'm having a major fashion meltdown, but obviously that won't be happening here." Kurt joked, motioning his hands over his uniform.

_Woah, I never realized how totally hot Kurt looks in his uniform…or in anything. His hair, his lips, his-_

"Erm, Blaine? What are you doing?" Kurt asked uncomfortably.

"Uh, I'm sorry, what?" Blaine said, snapping back into reality.

"You were just staring at me for a while." Kurt said with a confused expression.

_What the hell Blaine? Now your creeping him out and-_

"Whatever. When is Warbler rehearsal again?"

"Right after school until five. We usually have rehearsal during fifth period too, but Wes called for a stidy hall because Nick continuously failed his chemistry final. I know, it's a tight schedule but Wes insists that we have to have practice twice a day." Blaine answered, rolling his eyes.

"Same with New Directions, but most of the time people would just screw around and do nothing." Kurt responded, smiling at the memories flashing in his mind.

Blaine caught onto Kurt's expression and guilt quickly washed over him. _I was the one that suggested this school, and now he regrets it. He is going to hate me and resent me for the rest of his life for tearing him away from his friends. Smooth move, Blaine._

"But I would mainly sit by myself, plotting outfits and creating scenarios in which I actually received solos." Kurt chuckled bitterly.

Without even realizing it, Blaine let out a huge breath of relief. He wasn't happy that Kurt sat alone most of his days in the one class he loved most, but was relieved that he wasn't tearing Kurt away from all of his friends. _He is going to meet new friends here. _Blaine thought. _Friends that won't let him sit in the back of the class room alone. Friends like me._

* * *

"Council, we will now come to order. I would like to welcome our newest Warbler, Kurt Hummel." Wes announced as Kurt strutted in through the large, mahogany doors. Kurt smiled nervously, spotting Blaine immediately and Wes could see his fear wash away with Blaine's reassuring gaze. "And our oldest tradition for our newest Warbler, we would like to present you with Pavoratti. You are to look over him."

Wes could sense the fear immediately flood through the newest Warbler again as he received the bird.

"Hey I'll take him to work with me at the bottom of a coal mine." The boy chuckled nervously.

_I like this kid._ Wes thought quietly but kept his face sullen.

* * *

"A bird? The only other pet I had was a kitty named Persia and it wasn't even mine. It favored my mom and would only allow attention from her. I have no idea how to take care of this…thing." Kurt said in a mouthful, sitting in his dorm room with Blaine and his new roommate, Jeff.

"Dude, relax. When I came here they gave me a canary, too. His name was Crispin. The only other pet I had was a goldfish and he died three days after I bought him. Alas, Crispin lived a long, fulfilling little birdy life." Jeff said overdramatically.

"Yes, Crispin lived a whole three months until you-"

"Don't. Ever. Speak. About. That." Jeff said seriously, his stare shooting daggers into Blaine.

"What happened?" Kurt asked, eyeing the two boys curiously.

"Nothing. And I received a canary too, Jeeves. And my parents hated animals, so I had no idea what to do. Eventually he grew on me, and me and Jeeves were pretty good pals. Until he flew away…" Blaine frowned.

"I'm sorry, Blaine. And I guess I will try to get used to having a canary. He's pretty cute, and has a beautiful voice."

"He reminds me of you." Blaine said quickly, his face reddening quickly after realizing what he said.

Jeff's grin grew extremely wide and he cast a wink at Kurt, who along with Blaine, was a crimson red. "I think I'm going to go get a coffee with Nick. I'll leave you two here to flirt, but be safe." Jeff winked again, leaving the room.

"Um…" Kurt said quietly.

Blaine cleared his throat and sat up from the bed, observing the room as his face slowly flushed back to his natural color. "Would you like me to help you organize your closet? Finn didn't do so well yesterday."

"Please." Kurt smiled, setting Pavoratti down and beginning to lecture Blaine about the importance of organizing your closet.

* * *

"So Kurt, since you were being such a team player the other day in rehearsal by suggesting Rio by Duran Duran, we would like to offer you to audition for a solo at sectionals." Blaine asked as Kurt and Blaine were walking down the hall, shoulder to shoulder.

"I don't know Blaine, they didn't seem to appreciate my humor or my personality that much. Why would they offer me a solo?" Kurt asked, looking down at his hands in shame.

"Hey, no. Don't be hard on yourself. They just aren't used to allowing new people into their club. The last new Warbler was me, and it took them a while to warm up to. At first, they all seemed like they hated me. Time is all it takes, Kurt." Blaine reassured, forcing Kurt to look up at him.

"Okay." Kurt responded softly.

"Good, because the Kurt Hummel I know would never back down from a chance to shine." Blaine smiled, squeezing Kurt's shoulder.

* * *

Kurt said in front of the brick building, fearfully eyeing every person who passed by his car. He tried to focus his attention on why he came back to the place that brought him so much pain, but nothing could keep his mind off of the nervous spiders crawling around in his stomach, signaling for him to leave right now. His trail of thought was cut off briefly by the sound of his phone buzzing.

**Hey Kurt, where are you? I came by to help you rehearse for your solo and you were gone.**

**-Blaine**

**Just running a few errands. I'll be back soon.**

**-Kurt**

Kurt texted back, partially lying. He was hopefully going to be back soon, but he wasn't running an errand. He was at his hell hole- McKinley High to receive advice from his arch nemesis. His idea suddenly seemed extremely dumb, and he made to start his car and leave as he saw his tormentor walk right past his door. Kurt's face turned ghost white, trying to keep him from sobbing, in hopes the man wouldn't look his way. His hopes were shattered as Karofsky peered inside of Kurt's car, an evil grin toying across his face.

"Look who decided to come back. You really couldn't keep away from me, could you? I knew you had a thing for me. Too bad you couldn't please your boyfriend enough to keep him though." Karofsky laughed evilly into Kurt's slightly ajar window.

His words completely ripped apart Kurt's heart. _Too bad you couldn't please your boyfriend enough to keep him though_ kept playing in his head as he tried to block out Karofsky's constant pounding on his window, trying to get Kurt to open the door. Tears starting pooling in the back of Kurt's eyes before he completely broke down.

"And now the weak little homo is crying. What else is new?" Karofsky chuckled, attempting to fit his hand into the small space of the open window, grabbing for Kurt's hair.

"Just leave me alone, Karofsky." Kurt sobbed.

"Open the door then. Or are you too weak to take another beating. I thought you were into that kind of stuff, I see scars all over your body." Karofsky teased.

_My scars. The ones you gave me or the self- inflicted ones?_ Kurt thought before he realized what Karofsky just admitted._ Oh my gosh he checks me out. He is sexually harassing me right now, again. _

Kurt moved to the passanger side of the car, where the windows were completely rolled up and he was out of reach. He fumbled to find his phone and clumsily dialed Blaine's number by heart.

"Hi, Kurt." Blaine said cheerfully. "What's u-"

"Blaine help me. I'm at McKinley and Karofsky found me and-" Kurt said, his voice hoarse from his constant crying.

"Come here and fight me like a man, Hummel." Karofsky screamed as he grabbed a rock from the pavement and smashed it into Kurt's window, glass shooting everywhere and piercing Kurt's porcelain skin.

"Shit, Kurt are you okay? I'm calling for help right now. I will be there in a minute." Blaine said, his voice filled with fear and anger.

Kurt froze and dropped his phone, his face losing all color, as little pieces of glass pierced into his skin. He sat still as Karofsky continuously began punching Kurt across the face from the now broken window. He sat still as Karofsky wrapped his meaty fingers around Kurt's neck, choking the vibrancy, the joyfulness, the enthusiasm, the happy young man out of Kurt. He sat still until Kurt was nothing but a body without a soul, he sat still until he couldn't breathe anymore.

* * *

**AN: I'M SO SORRY. DON'T HATE ME. ): I know the ending was super sad, and I cried writing it.**

**And I know this chapter is pretty OOC, with Karofsky like rudely hitting on Kurt and then yunno, choking him. But that's why this story is sort of AU.**

**What do you guys think will happen? What do you want to happen? You can respond in the comment section below, if you would like. (:**

**PS: **

**"There's nothing wrong with you. There's a lot wrong with the world you live in. And definitely get out of high school and make everyone sorry." **  
**― Chris Colfer  
**


	6. Someone Saved My Life Tonight

**Author's Note: THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR YOUR REVIEWS. You guys are literally the sweetest people ever. **

**So this chapter is basically a montage of Kurt's life happening whilst he is suffocating. It is inspired by Elton John's classic "Someone Saved My Life Tonight". (a super sad, acoustic version I head on YouTube)**

**TRIGGER WARNING. If stuff like cutting really sets you off, PM me and I will gladly send you this chapter without the section pertaining to that subject. Please don't hesitate to ask either.**

**So I hope you enjoy this chapter! I tried to finish it before the season three finale because I felt I would be too sad to write after that. So have Kleenex nearby and enjoy!**

****Note, the bold words are the song lyrics and the italics are the flashbacks. Normal lettering is present day.****

* * *

**When I think of those East End lights, muggy nights**

_**(Kurt, age 7)**_

"_Now, Kurt. Remember your mother is very sick so don't rush her. She will go at her own speed, so don't complain." Burt lectured._

"_Of course, daddy. I know mommy is sick and she isn't always as happy as she used to be but I love her so I will always be right by her side. You will too, right daddy?" Kurt stared up at his father with innocent, puppy dog eyes._

"_Yes. Now come here, and give me a hug." Burt said, grabbing his son and pulling him into a bear hug. "So are you ready to go to the Cayman Islands?"_

"_Oh momma, look! Isn't the light so pretty?" Kurt gawked, pointing to a light house in the distance._

"_It's gorgeous, Kurt." Kurt's mother coughed, her body shaking violently from the cool, moist air. _

"_Momma, you doing all right?" Kurt frowned, clutching onto his mother's arm as they strolled down the sidewalk near the Gorling Buff Bright lighthouse._

"_Fine, honey. I just need to sit down." His mother said, her voice raspy and weak._

"_Okay." Kurt frowned, helping his sickly mother sit down on a nearby bench._

"_Kurt, I'm going to tell you something and I want you to remember this. Keep these words near and dear to you. I know your young, and this may hurt. But Kurt, I may not be around for much longer. I may not be able to see you go to prom or get married or watch you grow up. But Kurt, don't coast through life feeling crummy and worthless, because you're not. I want you to find love, find happiness. Kurt, love is like that lighthouse over there. When the tides of our life get too rough, it always guides us back to dry land where we are safe and comfortable. Just like our love does, and you and your father's. So Kurt, don't throw yourself around like you don't matter, because you do. Just remember, I will always be your lighthouse. I will always be there to guide you home, even when I'm gone and waiting for you in heaven. I love you, Kurt." Kurt's mother said, tears strolling down her cheeks._

"_Momma, I don't want you to leave me." Kurt began to cry, burying his head into his mother's shirt._

"_Honey, I'll never leave you. I will always be right here, in your heart." _

* * *

**The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs  
Prima Donna lord you really should have been there  
Sitting like a princess perched in her electric chair**

_**(Kurt, age 14)**_

"_How could you imply that I'm weak just because I may not always act like the boy you always dreamed about having. I'm sorry I embarrassed you, dad." Kurt screamed, slamming his door behind him._

"_Kurt, come back. Can we just talk about this, like men? I didn't mean what I said." Burt yelled from the bottom of the stairs._

"_So now you think I'm a man." Kurt shouted back, tears beginning to roll down his face."I thought to be a man you had to be able to play football." _

"_Kurt! I'm sorry, I was just upset. Please come down here." Burt pleaded._

_Kurt ignored his dads pleads, and fell to a heap by his locked door. Kurt choked out a loud sob, and then breathed in heavily. He was done._

_Kurt managed to gain enough strength to pull himself off of the floor, still shaking from embarrassment._

"_Are you sure your boy ain't a girl, Hummel? He throws like a queer." Kurt remembered his dad's friend saying as Kurt attempted to throw the baseball across the field._

_Kurt remembers his dad chuckling nervously at the comment, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. _

_The tears started rolling down Kurt's face again as he shut the curtains beside his loveseat. Kurt was sick of being an embarrassment, a disappointment, a waste of a soul to his father. He dug around in the cushions until he felt a cool, metal object and fumbled to pull it from the depths of the couch. He stared meticulously at the razor blade, watching as it glinted off the light casting from his lamp. _

_I'm going to do this, Kurt thought. I'm not going to be a chicken anymore; I'm going to end my suffering._

_Kurt placed the tip of the blade over his left wrist, beginning to draw blood. _

"_KURT. Stop, right now." Burt screamed, stumbling into Kurt's room._

"_Why the hell do you care? I'm a disappointment, a failure. A nuisance to the Hummel name. Let me do you a favor and just die." Kurt cried, dropping the razor to the flor._

"_Kurt, no you aren't. I don't know why I said that, I'm sorry." Burt said, running over to where Kurt was perched on his love seat, blood dripping from his wrists._

"_Kurt, why would you ever think I would want you dead? It was just a stupid little league baseball team that you didn't make the cut for because the guy was a jerk. I didn't know how to respond and I should have stood up for you." Burt said calmly, eyeing the wound on his son's wrist in shame."And I'm sure one hell of a failure of a father if I drove you to this, Kurt. I'm sorry. It's just, I feel so lost since your mother has passed. I don't know what I'm doing anymore. She was always so good to you." Burt sobbed, hugging Kurt like he used to when Kurt was a tike._

"_I'm, I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry that I made you feel so upset, it isn't your fault. I love you, I'm sorry I yelled. I don't want to be dead, dad." Kurt cried, squeezing his dad tighter._

"_You shouldn't be sorry, Kurt. I love you. Your mother would be so proud if she saw how accomplished you are in school and in your plays. I shouldn't have made you try out for something I knew you hated." Burt sniffled, pulling back away from the hug to look into Kurt's eyes._

"_I just, I love you." Kurt sobbed._

"_I'm going to go get you bandages, but you have to promise me you won't try to take your life again. No matter how hard the circumstances may be, your mother wouldn't want you to do this. Neither do I. So every time you feel down, come to me instead of inflicting pain to yourself. I love you. I love you so much." Burt said heartfelt idly. _

* * *

**And it's one more beer and I don't hear you anymore  
We've all gone crazy lately  
My friends out there rolling round the basement floor**

_**(Kurt, age sixteen, season 1)**_

"_Kur-Kurt?" Finn knocked on Kurt's bedroom door in the basement. _

"_What…the hell….do you want?" Kurt shouted angrily, slurring on his words and smelling heavily of beer when his door flew open._

"_What the hell are you doing?" Finn screamed._

"_I'm…havin' a good time." Kurt said, head banging his head to the scream-o music playing in the background. _

"_Kurt, where did you get all this alcohol and why are you drinking it?" Finn yelled, sounding angry and extremely confused as he stepped into Kurt's room. There were beer bottles smashed everywhere, stray clothes all over the room, vomit and beer stains on the carpet and garbage scattered everywhere._

"_Took it from dad's liquor cabinet." Kurt hiccupped, stumbling over and grabbing onto Finn for support._

"_Kurt this is extremely illegal! You're sixteen and there is no reason you should be doing this! What if Burt knew?" Finn said, flustered._

"_I.." Kurt hiccupped. "Have no reason? So being bullied and harassed daily doesn't count as a reason to be upset? That is should all go unrequited and forgotten about?" Kurt said, his words extremely slurred. "Well, today I finally broke. That was too much. Karofsky and Azimio, they took off my clothes and wrote vile words all over my body and made me do horrid things to them. And do you think anyone bothered enough to come help me as I screamed? No. And do you think anyone would even care if I told them what happened? No. I'm just trash to the world." Kurt began to sob, his words choked and slurred._

"_Kurt, what did they make you do?" Finn said, horrified."And I would have cared! I do care! I'm gonna' kick his ass."_

"_Nothing you'd wanna' hear. Let's just say they caused me to crumble, they took away my innocence and there is nothing I can do about it. They made me touch them where I didn't want to touch and it broke me, Finn." Kurt sobbed, collapsing onto his strewn bed._

"_I'm gonna' kill him." Finn said, fists clenched. "We have to tell someone. Your dad, my mom, the school board, glee. He can't get away with this." Finn screamed._

"_Yes, he will. He will and he always will. Calm down, Finn. Just take a sip and your cares will slip away from you." Kurt said drunkenly. _

"_Alcohol isn't the way to solve things, Kurt. Now I know you may be embarrassed and feel violated, but we have to tell someone. He can't get away with doing stuff to you like this anymore. Now come here, I am going to help you clean up before Burt gets home and has an aneurism." Finn said, helping Kurt off the bed._

"_You're the best." Kurt said, snuggling into Finn's shoulder. "You know that?" _

"_Sure, whatever you say."_

* * *

**And someone saved my life tonight sugar bear  
You almost had your hooks in me didn't you dear**

_**(Kurt, age 16, season 2, after Blaine found Kurt unconscious after Karofsky's beating)**_

_What felt like a huge, confusing blur of dystopia suddenly dissipated as Kurt was awoken by the feint sound of ambulances and the loud, heart breaking screams and sobs of someone familiar shouting his name._

_"Kurt! Kurt! Please, wake up. It's Blaine." The voice shouted._

_Kurt slowly blinked his eyes open, his vision still extremely blurry, but making out the silhouette of a boy in a navy blue blazer._

_"B-Blaine. I'm sorry I missed our coffee outing. I must of…I must of fallen asleep." Kurt replied, his body feeling oddly numb. He didn't think waking up normally felt like this._

_He could hear Blaine let out a happy sob, and could see his beautiful hazel/brown eyes squint, a sure sign that he was smiling._

_"Oh Kurt. Just relax, its okay. Soon you're going to be in a nice, warm room where you can properly take a nap. I'll just take a rain check on that coffee date." Blaine smiled, slowly stroking Kurt's forearm that was hidden under a wool blanket._

_"Oh." Kurt smiled at the word__date__. "And can you tell F-Finn to turn down his video game? I can hear the sirens all the way from over here." Kurt asked groggily._

_"Of course." Blaine chuckled. _

_~~~~~~~._

"_Blaine, how did you find me?" Kurt asked hoarsely as him and Blaine rode in the ambulance to the hospital._

"_Kurt, you hadn't been answering my texts or calls for hours. I was freaking out, considering you always answer your phone and always respond to my texts, so I sensed something wasn't right. I tried calling Finn a couple of times to ask if you were alright, and he just said he hadn't seen you since Glee, but was pretty sure he saw you head out with Mercedes. This eased my worrying slightly, considering it was something you would do. But, realizing that Finn wasn't exactly the most reliable person, I called Mercedes. She told me you left right after Glee, which resumed my bout of panic. I ran down to go ask Thad if he saw you, and I saw him talking on the phone. He said his girlfriend who attended McKinley High saw some dude get mercilessly beat up by some jock. I instantly knew what he was talking about, ran out of Dalton, jumped into my car and sped to McKinley High were I found you in a lifeless heap. The paramedics had already arrived, but I couldn't leave you alone with strangers." Blaine said in a mouthful, using dramatic hand gestures to emphasize certain parts of the story. Blaine looked down to see Kurt smiling at his story with his eyes closed, drifting back to sleep._

"_I love you, Kurt." Kurt heard Blaine whisper after a few minutes, thinking Kurt was sleeping. "I love you so much, you will never know."_

* * *

**You nearly had me roped and tied  
Altar-bound, hypnotized**

_**(Kurt, age 16, a couple of weeks after Kurt returned to school after Karofsky's beating)**_

"_Say it, Kurt. Say it now or you won't be going home." Karofsky whispered into Kurt's ear, Kurt against the shower stall with Karofsky pressing all of his weight on top of him._

"_No, get off me. Now!" Kurt cried, trying to wriggle out of Karofsky's grasp, but Karofsky's sweaty, sticky body mingled with Kurt's tears prevented him from moving an inch. "You're disgusting."_

"_No, tell me that you're worthless and that you're mine." Karofsky said urgently._

"_No, I'm not worthless and I am most definitely not yours. You're just a filthy pig." Kurt whimpered._

"_If I'm so filthy then why do you keep coming back for more?" Karofsky sniggered._

"_I don't keep coming back for more; you find me after gym everyday and force me to kiss you. You're a pig." Kurt cried._

"_You like it, don't you." Karofsky snickered, slamming Kurt even harder into the shower wall. "Admit it."_

"_No. It's disgusting, so are you. You're so desperate you can't even get someone to consent to kissing you; you have to force me, the number one loser at school to kiss you. Now what does that say about you?" Kurt said bitterly, clenching his teeth together as he tried again to get out of Karofsky's quickly tightening clench._

"_What did you just say to me?" Karofsky said with fury in his voice._

"_You heard me. You're just a Lima Loser. You thought you had me wrapped around your finger. And you nearly did, you nearly had me roped and tied into being your slave. But I won't stand for this Karofsky. I can take slushies, dumpster tosses, shoves and a few punches but sexual harassment draws the line." Kurt said courageously. "We're through here."_

_Karofsky's jaw dropped from Kurt's statement. He temporarily let go of Kurt and watched in awe as Kurt sauntered out of the locker room, still wet from tears, with a smug smile on his face. _

_Kurt Hummel wasn't going to be someone's slave._

* * *

**Sweet freedom whispered in my ear  
You're a butterfly  
And butterflies are free to fly  
Fly away, high away, bye bye**

_**(Kurt, age 13)**_

"_Dad, can I go alone today? I want to talk to her about something…its private." Kurt asked innocently, squeezing his dad's hand. "Please?"_

_Burt looked down at his small, fragile son. He huffed slightly, but decided that he couldn't be with Kurt forever and if he wanted to talk to his mother alone, he might as well. "Fine. I'll be in the car if you need me." Burt answered, pulling his son into a hug._

"_Thank you, dad. I'll try not to be too long, so you can talk to her too." Kurt smiled, rushing down the path of the cemetery he knew by heart towards his mother's grave stone._

_Kurt looked silently at his mother's grave for a few minutes, observing the stone. On the side beside her name, encrusted was a small butterfly flapping his wings. Kurt remembers asking why his mother insisted on having a butterfly engraved on her tomb. "Because, Kurt, butterflies are free. And when it's my time, I'll be free. I'll be free to enjoy everything without being tied to my cancer, honey. My sickness doesn't define me, I'm still me. But when I pass away, I'll be healthy and lively with nothing to stop me. So that is why, honey, I want a butterfly on my gravestone." He remembers his mother saying those words vividly, a tear rolling down her cheek as she stroked Kurt's hair. The memory caused Kurt to tear up slightly, wishing he was still wrapped up in his mother's warm embrace, smelling her sweet pea perfume along with the feint smell of Cortisone._

"_Hi, mom. I came here today to admit something to you. I want to feel free, like you. And you told me the only way to be free is not letting something define you. I realized that I'm letting myself be defined by what everyone else thinks I am. I realize it's time to come out and tell the world that their right, I don't like girls the way that most guys do. But that doesn't define me; I am Kurt Hummel, the funny, fashionable, witty young boy who happens to be gay." Kurt spoke quietly with his eyes shut. Kurt fluttered his eyes open and realized he felt like a load was lifted off his chest. He felt a strange sensation, he felt free._

* * *

**I'm strangled by your haunted social scene  
Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen**

_**(Kurt, age 15, memory taking place around 1x3)**_

"_Oh gosh, what is she wearing?" Kurt said, looking at Rachel disgustedly. _

"_It looks like she bought her outfit from The Children's Place for hobbits." Mercedes responded, which resulted in them giggling uncontrollably, stopping when they realized all the eyes of the glee club was on them. _

"_Eh-hem." Rachel said, clearing her throat to direct the attention to the front of the classroom where she was perched on a stool. "I heard that." _

"_Good, and maybe it will impact your decision on whether you decide to buy you clothes from the Children's Gap or Forever 21." Kurt snarled._

"_You know what, Kurt? I think you're jealous. I think you're jealous that I get all of the solos, am naturally talented and can be myself. Unlike you, who doesn't have the drive, focus or identity to become anything."Rachel snapped back as everyone's jaw dropped to the floor and tears began to well up in Kurt's eyes. "How do you expect to shine when you can't even admit who you are, tell everyone Kurt. Tell them that you're gay."_

_Kurt's heart immediately dropped to the floor and his blood began to boil. He hadn't told anyone besides Mercedes, who insisted on telling Rachel and Tina. He was going to keep it that way, until now. He was going to be hated even more._

"_And do you got a problem with that, hobbit?" Santana spoke up, surprising the group anymore. She had never let alone spoke to Kurt, only the occasional insult about his sexuality. _

"_No, no. Of course I don't, I have to gay-" _

"_Don't even start with this 'I have two gay dads so I can't be offensive'. Well listen up Berry, I may not seem like I like Hummel in any way, and it may seem like I hate him. Sure, the things I say are offensive, but that's who I am. You all should know by now to not take my insults to heart. But what you did Berryis much worse than anything I would ever think of doing. You outed Kurt over here, something he should only have the right to do, even though it's completely obvious that he digs boys. So I suggest you apologize to Kurt, and don't expect him to forgive you, and then shut your loud mouth the hell up." Santana said bitterly, going into full bitch, Lima Heights Adjacent mode._

"_Santana, I did not out him. I merely gave him a suggestion in how to get far in life, and if that meant outing him then I suppose I did." Rachel said in a smug, dramatic tone._

"_I can't even believe you, Berry. This is low, even for you." Santana said crossly and sat back down in he chair in front of Kurt, ignoring everyone's surprised stares._

"_Thank you." Kurt whispered, his words choked from tears._

"_Well, if anyone ever did that to me I don't know what I'd do. I got your back, Hummel." Santana whispered back._

_And the smile that played across Kurt's face was unforgettable, he found a friend in Santana, who trusted him enough to ever so slightly come out to him. _

* * *

**I'm sleeping with myself tonight**

_**(Kurt, age 8)**_

"_Dad.." Kurt said softly on the other end of his father's bed. "Dad, you awake?"_

"_Hmm…" Burt huffed._

"_I…I think I'm gonna' go sleep in my bed." Kurt said uncertainly. _

"_Kurt, are you sure? Are you going to be okay being alone?" Burt asked sadly, turning to face his son._

"_I…I think I will. I want to try. I can't sleep with you forever, daddy." Kurt said, sitting up on the queen sized bed._

"_Okay, son. Do you want me to walk you there?" Burt offered._

"…_no. I want to do this alone." Kurt breathed in heavily and made for the door before swiveling around to face his father. "And dad?"_

"_Yeah?" Burt sighed._

"_I love you." Kurt smiled before slowly walking down the hallway to his room. _

_As he entered, he felt a bitter energy circulating. His room seemed so lifeless, so dull, and so lonely. He hadn't slept in his own bed in months, ever since his mother had passed. He couldn't bear to be left alone in his slumber, so he slept in his father's room. Kurt had been feeling ashamed of this lately, like him being there felt like he was taking over his wife's spot. Kurt decided that he was going to sleep by himself tonight._

_He made his way over to his race car bed and slowly sat down on the edge. It felt hard-like a brick. However, Kurt was determined to sleep in his own bed. He couldn't keep sleeping with his father, Kurt was going to grow up and he didn't want to make a habit of it._

_He began to slide up to wear the pillows of his bed were and slid under the covers. They felt like sheets of ice to Kurt, they felt so lonesome. He began to sob uncontrollably._

"_Kurt, come here. Come sleep with me, I don't mind." Burt said softly, leaning against the doorframe of Kurt's room with his arms crossed._

"_No, I-I want to sleep by myself. I n-need to." Kurt sobbed._

"_Kurt, your coming to sleep with me. I don't mind. In fact, it feels empty without you. And I know you're not enjoying yourself here." Burt said sleepily._

"_Okay…" Kurt complied, his tears slowly diminishing._

"_And I know a perfect way to get you into sleeping in your own room. How about tomorrow we take a trip to IKEA to get you some new furniture?" Burt smiled, ruffling Kurt's hair. _

"_Really? I love you, daddy." Kurt sniffled, hugging his dad's leg._

* * *

**Someone saved my life tonight, someone saved my life tonight  
Someone saved my life tonight, someone saved my life tonight  
Someone saved my life tonight  
So save your strength and run the field you play alone**

"I can't give up, I can't give up. Move, Kurt. Just move." Kurt muttered to himself, gasping for air desperately. He'd lived through much worse. He wasn't going to let himself be put to death by a worthless pig. Not without a fight.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for reading this story. This story was an emotional roller coaster to write and I hope you liked it. And I'm sorry, I had to cut a couple of lines from the song. I just couldn't conjure up a memory to fit in to Kurt's life. Again, I hope you enjoyed otherwise! (:**

**Reviews, criticisms, complaints, suggestions, comments, etc are always welcome. (:**

**PS: "Don't listen to what people tell you because they'll try to bring you down. And don't listen to yourself, either, because yourself will try to bring you down even more so than anyone else. As long as you just put all your energy into one thing, it can happen."  
― Chris Colfer (this may or may not be subtext for what happens in the next chapter)  
**


	7. And The Choking Strains

**Author's Note: So here it is! I am so sorry it took forever! I have been really sick, as well as caught up in school work for summer school. BLEH. But whateve, I get to write a lot in that class so it's okay, I guess.**

**I believe this will be the last chapter, but I might write some verses to accompany this and fill in the missing gaps, if you are all interested!**

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL MY REVIEWERS, COMMENTERS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAVORITED OR PUT THIS STORY ON ALERT! Every time I get an email that says someone did one of those things, it makes me all bubbly and super happy inside. It's like getting a Klaine kiss scene. Rare, but when it happens it is the BEST THING EVER. (:  


**Enjoy!**

* * *

Kurt pushed, he shoved. He flailed around aimlessly with the little oxygen he had left in him to get Karofsky to stop. Nothing seemed to be working, and Karofsky's grasp around Kurt's neck wasn't loosening. It may have even seemed tighter. That is until Kurt hurt a familiar voice shouting across the parking lot. Blaine.

But the Blaine Kurt was so used to hearing didn't sound like him, he sounded angry. He sounded absolutely furious and his tone could kill. As Kurt struggled to listen to what Blaine was calling and his heavy footsteps running towards the car, the lack of oxygen finally got to his brain. His breath hitched, and didn't resume.

* * *

Blaine was sweating and shaking furiously by the time he arrived at the McKinley parking lot, quickly spotting Kurt's navigator and the faint silhouette of a person in a letterman jacket beside it. He began to shout Kurt's name constantly as he darted across the parking lot, his footsteps beating against the pavements like drums. And within seconds, Blaine was punching Karofsky incautiously, his eyes like fire and smoke spewing out of his ears. When Karofsky was finally pinned against the pavement, Blaine straddling him with a fist clench, Karofsky surrendered.

"I-I'm sorry, man. Just get off, go help him." Karofsky begged, his eyes welling and his face drenched in blood.

_Kurt_. Blaine thought reapidily as Karofsky scrambled onto his feet and dashed away.

Blaine's heart began to thump louder and faster than it already was, coming down from his adrenaline high and grasping reality. He swallowed hard and slowly walked over to the shattered window of the navigator. The first thing that caught his eye was the large amount of blood pooling from Kurt's arms, large pieces of glass piercing porcelain skin.

Blaine gulped harder, and slowly trailed his gaze over towards Kurt's face and he gasped audibly, his heart shredding in the process. The normally stunning man looked so lifeless, his galaxy blue eyes a dull grey, pink plum lips fading. Blaine slowly opened the Navigator door to have easier access to Kurt, slowly sliding onto the black leather seats. He ignored the pain of the glass piercing into various parts of his body. All he could focus his eyes on were Kurt's lips. Blaine couldn't remember how many times he wanted to touch them, to just brush a finger over them, or even press his lips against them. The countless dreams he had about them, and now-they would forever stay dreams. Blaine lifted his hand and ghosted his fingertips over Kurt's pale lips, then over his colorless cheeks. They were usually accompanied by a rosy tint. Now, a pale yellow with a faint trail of blood down the side. Blaine let out a choked sob, before collapsing onto the lifeless boy's shoulder, sobbing louder when he looked at the bruises around Kurt's neck, a deep red in the shape of meaty finger prints.

"I love you, I…I love you so much, Kurt. And now you're gone." Blaine sobbed, wetting Kurt's cold shoulder.

Love..you…too…B" Kurt gasped softly, his voice nearly inaudible.

"Kurt, Kurt? You're alive?" Blaine jumped up and grabbed Kurt's hand, whom meekly squeezed back. "Kurt, it's going to be okay. Just take slow breaths. Help is coming, you're going to live. You're going to breathe."

* * *

**_"And that's how I met him and found my missing puzzle piece, mom. He saved me. And don't worry, I'm okay now. I was hospitalized for a while…a really long time, in fact. I couldn't talk for months, I couldn't breathe or eat on my own, and…and I can't sing anymore, mom. He took it away. He took away my one true passion. My dreams of becoming a Broadway star were mashed, and for a long time I let that destroy me. But Blaine, he…he helped me cope. He loves me, singing ability or not. He is even helping me get into this amazing fashion college mom, he just- he is truly amazing." Kurt smiled, and felt his hand being squeezed reassuringly as his boyfriend to wrap his arms around his waist. "I'll let him continue, mom."_**

**_"Oh, Mrs. Hummel, I was so afraid. I was clueless, I had no idea what to do, I was freaking out when we arrived at the emergency room."_**

* * *

"Blaine, we need you to sit down. Your pacing isn't really helping here." Burt sighed, pinching his nose and huffing.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hummel. I'm scared, so scared. I just- I found him there, he was so still, and then he breathed, and then he didn't." Blaine said in a mouthful, using expressive hand movements and pacing faster.

"Sit, honey." Carole said softly, placing a hand on Blaine's shoulder and staring at him with a tear stained face and returning to her seat next to Burt.

Blaine followed suit, taking a seat next to Kurt's step brother whom he knew vaguely, the boy ubbing his hands together nervously and focusing his eyes on the ground.

"Hi." Blaine said dumbly.

Suddenly, a group of around fifteen teenaged kids burst into the hospital waiting room, their faces pale and eyes red rimmed, Finn quickly shot up out of his chair and embraced a small, crying brunette.

"How is he?" A man with curly brown hair and a button up vest asked.

"He's in critical condition, but they really don't know." Burt replied, standing up to greet the man.

"I just feel so bad, Burt. We were so close, just a mere brick wall away from it. We could have helped him." The man sighed sadly, holding the hand of a petite woman with Bambi eyes and ginger hair.

"It's not your fault, Will, you didn't know. No one could have stopped this." Burt said sadly, leading the two adults to a seat across the room.

"Who's that hot hobbit sitting next to Finn?" Blaine heard the latina girl say to a perky blonde next to her.

"That's Kurt's dolphin, Tana. He told me about her, one day they are going to make dolphin babies when Kurt get's okay." The blonde whispered back.

Blaine couldn't help but smirk at the comment. _He told these people about me?_ And let out a confused chuckle at the girl's comment.

Blaine watched, mezmorized as the rest of the group filed in, tears streaming down most of their faces and sitting down, whispering in small groups. Blaine couldn't help but peep into their conversations to keep his mind off of Kurt.

"And I just miss him so much, he didn't get the credit he deserves. Mike, what if he's gone? Who is going to be my hag then? I need him!" An Asian girl with dark clothes sobbed into what appeared to be her boyfriend's chest, continieing to mumble, her words being muffled by his chest.

Blaine continued to peer around the room, his eye catching a buff looking man with a Mohawk.

"Whattya looking at?" The boy sneered.

"Nothing…sorry." Blaine replied, looking away quickly.

"Sorry. Rough time. Who're you?" The man quipped.

"I'm- I'm Blaine. A friend of Kurt's. I- I found him." Blaine stuttered, making awkward eye contact with the buff boy across from him.

"Puck. And thanks, Kurt means a lot to a lot of people." He replied.

"Yeah, he really loves you guys. And he means the world to me." Blaine smiled slightly, his eyes dazzling at the thought of loving Kurt.

The room fell to a quiet silence after that, only the faint sound of tuning magazines, skidding sneakers on pristine linoleum tile, soft whispers and biting nails could be heard for hours, until suddenly everyone froze as a seemingly drunk David Karosky stumbled though the swaying hospital doorways.

"David?" The man with curly hair and a sweater vest said softly, a look of utter confusion plastered across his face. "Are you…are you alright?"

"That's him." Blaine muttered quietly, anger pulsing through his veins. "You did this to Kurt! You're the reason we're here!" Blaine began to yell, running up to Karofsky, fists clenched.

"He did this, Blaine?" Burt said between clenched teeth, running after Blaine who was now gripping the front of the chuckling jock's sweaty t-shirt.

"You fucking put him here. I love him, and now he may never come back." Blaine began to weaken, his knees buckling and collapsing backwards into Burt's arm as everyone stifled a gasp.

_Who was this boy, and why didn't we know that Kurt found someone?_ The New Directions members who were unaware of Blaine thought in unison.

"You're damn straight I killed that homo, he got what he _deserved_." Karofsky chuckled, taking another swig of the Heineken in his hand.

"Coming from you, who is too afraid to come out of the closet!" Blaine cried, attempting to throw punches towards Karofsky's way but was being held back by Burt. As soon as the comment was said, however, the room that was oh-so-recently being bombarded with yelling, screaming and the sound of crying, fell to a dead silence. Everyone ever-so-slowly rotated their heads to face Dave Karofksy, who was now clenching his beer bottle, as if it were Kurt's neck.

"What?" Burt gasped, uncurling himself from Blaine, his head feeling fuzzy and his heart aching from the pain.

Karofsky's face was then growing redder and redder, metaphorical smoke spewing out of his ears. He kept his stare locked on Blaine, slowly raising the beer class above his head, and then plunging it towards Blaine's skull. Fortunately, just as it was about to shatter and crash into Blaine's skull, two security officers came bursting though the door, grapping Karofsky's unbelievably clammy hand that was gripping the bottle.

Karofsky attempted to squirm out of the officers grasp, flailing his arms in Blaine's direction who was looking ever-so-smug.

"I'm gonna' fucking kill you, butt boy." Karofsky slurred as he was being dragged out of the waiting room.

"ALRIGHT." Screamed a tomato-faced nurse. "I've had enough of this! You all are disturbing the entire hospital, and you could have possibly awoken Kurt! Everybody besides family and relatives, out!" She shouted, herding the group of kids out of the waiting room.

"Blaine, you can stay. You saved Kurt, and they'll make an exception. I'm a nurse here, so don't worry." Carole said, stopping Blaine from leaving the hospital by grabbing his wrists.

"No, he has to go too, Carole. Too much ruckus." The nurse said sternly.

"Charlene, he saves Kurt's life. He has every right to be here." Carole said simply, pulling Blaine down to a seat next to him.

Blaine simply stayed in a daze. After Karofsky had threatened to kill him, memories of his childhood began to flood back in. The brutal beatings, the threats, the names, the disownment from his father. Everything. And now his one last flame of love was now lapping in the wind, threatened to be blown out completely. Left alone, in the darkness, in the same lonely state Blaine was. The thoughts kept rolling for hours, and before Blaine knew it Carole was offering to drive Blaine home and Finn and Burt were stumbling out of their chairs, legs limp and numb.

"Is…is it okay if I stay here? Just for the night? I really would rather not go home." Blaine said, feeling small as ever.

Carole hesitated for a moment, but saw the look of loneliness in the boy's eyes. "I…I guess so. I'll get you situated in Kurt's room, okay? I don't want you sleeping out in this hall, who knows who will barge in next." Carole smiled weakly, motioning for Blaine to enter Kurt' room.

Blaine halted at the door. He was afraid, absolutely terrified to see Kurt hooked up onto all those machines, his life depending on them. He took a shaky breath and pushed though the door, a heap on the bed being the first thing he noticed. Kurt.

Blaine walked up to the side of the bed, staring down at Kurt. His eyes were closed, eyelashes thick and heavy. His lips were pale and chapped, his cheeks colorless and sickly. Kurt resembled a ghost, and that broke Blaine's heart even more.

"Honey, I've left you a throw pillow and a blanket. Just buzz if anything seems unnatural, okay?" Carole said softly, kissing Blaine on the cheek and scurrying out.

Blaine pulled over a metal chair, and continued to examine Kurt again from head-to-toe, feeling sick when he noticed the tube pushed down Kurt's throat. He was suffering.

Blaine, however cliché he knew this was, placed a trembling hand over Kurt's limp one, and began to pour his heart out.

"Kurt...I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't come in time; I was just, I was so afraid. So afraid that finding you was going to bring back all the memories of when I was being bullied. Like when I found you after Karofsky beat you the first time, I had nightmares for weeks after. I even almost relapsed, thought about giving up. Because it seems that no matter how much we try, everyone still hates us. But then I realized, Kurt, that it was 'we' who was fighting against the world, not just 'me'. We are in this together, fighting to stay happy. Stay strong. We have each other and that's all that matters. But, I didn't find you in time. He- he choked not only the air but he choked out your soul. And I just, I really really care about you, Kurt. I think I love you, and I didn't even get to tell you." Blaine sobbed, laying his head down lightly on Kurt's motionless chest.

Then, miraculously, just like a cliché movie, Blaine felt something. His sobbing halted, as he looked down at their intertwined fingers. He saw Kurt's finger glide across the inner of Kurt's thumb and give a gentle squeeze.

_He can hear me._

"Kurt, Kurt? NURSE NANCY!" Blaine screamed with a watery smile.

_Kurt was going to be okay._

* * *

**_"And that, Mrs. Hummel, is the story of how our lives fell into place. Sure, there was still long months of recovery and rehab after that, but we did it together. I never left his side, even when he wanted to just give up. There were days in which I thought I was only living for Kurt, and that was okay. He was my everything, and all I needed." Blaine smiled, squeezing their intertwined hands and pressing a kiss to Kurt's cheek, wiping away a tear that was slowly strolling down his boyfriend's porcelain skin._**

**_"He is my angel, mom. You would just adore him, and I know he would have adored you. He's my rock, my savior. Choking strains mom, but he saved my life that night." _**

* * *

**__Author's Note: And I believe that wraps this story up. ANy feedback? How was it? Should I have added anything? Should I add more? Etc?**

And thank you for all my readers, it means A LOT that you read and review my writing. More than you will ever know, actually. So thank you. (:

PS: "There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible."  
- spoken by Atticus Finch


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